Snow isn't fun
by Laila Space
Summary: Trapped in the middle of nowhere with icy blizzards around them isn't much of a problem for the Earth's Mightiest Heroes. But when they find out that a certain genius billionaire isn't exactly suited up for minus 10 degrees and is also injured ... well, they are in a whole lot of trouble. Will Tony Stark survive or will the snow become his icy grave? STONY. Please read and review.
1. The beginning

White. That was all Steve Rogers could see when he opened his eyes. Pure, sickly, blinding white.

Slowly he remembered other important things. The snow. The storm. Thor. Bruce. Nat. Clint. _Tony._

"Tony", he gasped, sitting up quickly, ignoring the slight dizziness.

He got up on shaky legs and stumbled upright. Disentangling himself from the heavy cloth of the parachute, he took stock of his injuries.

Sprained left wrist due to a particularly forceful wrench of the parachute. The cold had kept the swelling down.

He was fine. The others? To be determined.

Steve tried to see past the thickening blizzard.

"Tooonnnyyy", he yelled, his voice swirling away into the cold whiteness.

Trudging along as carefully and as fast as he could, he set off in a random direction, hoping to reunite with his teammates ... family.

* * *

Half an hour earlier :

 _"Tony, get out of the suit. We have to get you checked up."_

 _"I told you, Steve. I'm fine. Just a couple of scratches. It was hardly a battle fit for us. Too dull. Everybody's scratched, but that's where the injuries end."_

 _"Tony, Steve's right. Besides, only you are capable of hiding your injuries. Everyone else don't have a metal suit covering them. Look, you don't have to go to the S.H.I.E.L.D medics if you let me look at you."_

 _"Brucey ... you can check me out when we're home then, can't you?"_

 _"Stark, we know the moment you get out of the quinjet, you'll go off to your lab to build another suit or upgrade J.A.R.V.I.S or install a mini bar in your Porsche or something. So get out of the damn suit or I'll be repeating what I did to Barton here. Only ... more forcefully."_

 _"Hey! How come ironass gets a warning before you kachow him. I wasn't even scratched and yet you give me not even a 'watch out Clint, I'm going to kick you in the ... ' "_

 _"Man of Iron. Do you require a hand in removing your suit of Iron, so you shall be tended by the Captain of America and the good green doctor ?"_

 _"Erm ... Um, I ... thanks Thor. But I'll take it off myself. New suit. Wouldn't want to destroy it."_

 _"There that wasn't so hard, was it?"_

 _"Ouch. Watch it."_

 _"Sorry. I thought you said it was a couple of scratches."_

 _"It is a couple of ... all right, fine. Two broken ribs, sprained ankle and concussion... Don't look at me like that Steve. Ok, fine. I'm sorry. Satisfied?"_

 _"As long as I'm able to kiss you better."_

 _"Um, Steve. I think I have a lot of injuries. Mostly down in my ... "_

 _"Ugh, guys. Could you please get a room. There are healthy people here. Wouldn't want to make them puke, would you?"_

 _"Bruce Banner, how dare you make Steve blush? Only I'm allowed to do that. Anyway I don't need to get a room. I am all in for public make out sessions as long as it is with Steve."_

 _"Guys, I think you should buckle up. There's ..."_

 _"Nat, I can't gain control..."_

 _"Please tell me this is just turbulence."_

 _"No, I don't think so. We can't even land the damn thing."_

 _"What's the matter? Tony, grab my arm..."_

 _"Bruce, calm down. We don't want big green in here."_

 _"Clint, we're gonna crash. Put her on autopilot. J.A.R.V.I.S will take care of it."_

 _"Lady Natasha. Grab my hand."_

 _"Clint, hold on. Calm Bruce down."_

 _"Avengers, you have to jump. The quinjet's engines are taking on too much pressure. I can't keep it in the air for long. Grab the parachutes at the back."_

 _"J, how long do we have?"_

 _"At the best, you have perhaps two minutes and twelve seconds before the jet crashes."_

 _"Shit..."_

 _"There. Grab those chutes."_

 _"Here, catch. Steve, pass this to Nat."_

 _"Thor. Here. Pull that long dangling thingy after you jump."_

 _"Bruce, you ok? Good. Now go."_

 _"No. Wait. Hold hands. We're doing this together."_

 _"On three. One ... two ... three ... JUMP."_

* * *

 _Now :_

It couldn't have been more than a quarter of an hour when he saw a striking contrast of black against the snow.

Quickening his steps he approached the shape. To his utter relief he saw that it was Thor walking with incredible ease, helping forward a stumbling Bruce and Natasha.

"Thor", he yelled, struggling along with a new burst of speed.

"Steven", Thor's booming voice clear even over the howling blizzard.

As soon as he was near enough, he gave the three a quick once over.

Injuries :

Thor - Nil. Not surprising seeing that he was a God.

Bruce - Nil. Seeing that his counterpart was a green rage monster.

Natasha - Nil. Seeing that she was a master assassin and superspy.

They had landed correctly, it would seem.

"You guys okay?", confirmed Steve.

"Yeah", Bruce said, panting.

Natasha nodded and rubbed her leather gloves hands together and placed them over her face in an effort to warm it.

"Not cold much?", Steve asked in surprise.

"The other guy keeps me warm. He also keeps me cool when it's too hot. Extreme climates can bring him out." Bruce shrugged.

"But doesn't he want to come out?" Steve asked, confused.

"Not all the time. We've reached a mutual understanding. He only comes out when we both are angry and he really, really wants to Smash."

Steve nodded and turned to Natasha.

"What about you?"

"Stark - designed body suit. Kind of a poikilothermic outer skin. Only my face is cold 'cause it's exposed", Nat said gesturing to her attire.

Steve nodded. He didn't even have to ask Thor.

Steve himself was kept warm by the super serum. It was the heavy wind they had to be concerned about. They could hardly walk.

Well, Thor could. And Steve, if he put forth his best effort.

As for Bruce and Natasha, Thor's hands around their arms were the only reason they were walking and not being blown away.

"We have to search for Tony and Clint. And if we are lucky, we may even find some kind of shelter." Steve held out his hand for Bruce to hold, so that Thor could hold Natasha more firmly. They formed a sort of a chain with Steve and Thor at the two ends, helping to ground the other two.

It was slow progress, but they managed to keep going, occasionally calling out to Tony or Clint in the hopes of hearing an answer.

And they did.

* * *

 _So guys, interested? Let me know through your reviews, favs and follows._

 _The more the response, the faster the update._

 _Ta,_

 _Laila._


	2. The reunion

_They had jumped._

 _As soon as they had jumped, Steve had reached over and pulled Tony's ripcord before pulling his'._

 _One by one, all of their descents had been slowed by the parachutes opening. But they had also lost sight of one another in the snow swirling about them._

 _Not surprisingly Clint could make out everyone's silhouette. He had seen Steve land first, then Thor and Nat followed by Bruce._ _He himself had pulled the cord last and was just above Tony._ _He lost sight of Tony just as the man landed and a fresh gust of snow blew._ _Turning slightly with the direction of the wind, he landed with a jolt and quickly removed the parachute._

 _With sharp eyes he scanned the vicinity in the hopes of locating one of his team mates. But could see none. Setting off in the general direction in which he had seen them land, Clint wrapped his arms tightly about himself (Not that he was cold. He was wearing one of the suits Tony had designed, after all), and bent forward to push against the wind._

* * *

That was fifteen minutes earlier.

Now all that kept Clint from whooping in joy, as he hurried towards a black figure contrasting sharply against the piercing white, was the wind still whipping his face.

He hurried as fast as he could. When he approached closer, he realized that the figure was none other than Tony.

"Tony", he yelled, relief seeping through him.

Tony didn't seem to hear him.

That's when Clint saw realized that Tony, despite being a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist and Iron Man, could be remarkably thick.

With a sinking feeling he took in the sight of the T-shirt and pants clad idiot.

Tony had designed both Clint and Nat suits fit for all types of weather. Apparently he had thought that he was immune to the heat and cold.

As the archer reached for him, Tony swayed and tipped forward. He would have fallen if not for Clint's chest conveniently placed before him.

"Tony. Tony, answer me, you idiot. Tony.", Clint shook the man currently face planted on his chest.

No response.

Clint pushed the other man slightly away from him. Tony swayed but managed to remain on his feet, with Clint's arm around his waist. He looked at Clint through half lidded eyes, frowning slightly in confusion. But what alarmed Clint the most was the violent shivers that wracked Tony.

"Hey, man. Come on. We have to find the others. You with me?", Clint asked, rubbing Tony's arms.

"Clin'? 's cold. Whe's Steve?", Tony slurred, looking around as if searching for the super soldier.

"We'll find him, alright? Put your arm around my shoulders. Yes ... good, that's it. Slowly now. One leg in front of the other. Damn it, Stark. I'm not gonna carry you if you black out. Help me out here." With much complaining, prodding and heaving, Clint managed to get the billionaire moving.

Damn. He would have stayed at the Avengers tower if he had known that the mission would end in him hauling a half conscious Tony Stark and shouting himself hoarse, searching for his team mates. He was getting Stark to reduce his cheeseburger uptake. And he was making him sacrifice his hot tub for at least a month afterwards. Oh, what he wouldn't give to curl up in bed with a cup of hot chocolate.

Tony leaned more heavily on his shoulder and Clint shook him slightly and encouraged him with nonsensical words and foolish promises.

They had to find shelter soon.

And the others.

Speaking of ...

 _"Clint."_

"Over here. Here", yelled Clint, his relief giving way to faster steps. Unfortunately he was fully supporting an almost unconscious Tony and there was only so much speed he could walk in.

He could see the other four Avengers rushing as fast as they could in the still raging storm, towards them. Steve was the first to reach and unsurprisingly Tony was taken into his arms.

He caught Natasha's calculative gaze and assured her with a firm nod. No words were needed between them.

* * *

Steve could barely contain his joy at catching sight of the remaining two members of his team. Joy that was blown away with the wind, when he noticed Tony hanging off Clint's shoulder, his trembles visible even from several feet away.

But only when he had his love in his arms did he realize the full extent of Tony's idiocy. The genius was dressed in simple clothes meant for temperatures above 30 degree celsius. And his lips were turning blue, a high contrast against his pale face.

So basically, Tony had built comfortable suits for the two ordinary humans and conveniently forgot that he was human too. Not really surprising, considering the fact that he had the self preservation of a mayfly.

"Steve?", came a whisper from Tony.

"Yeah. I'm here. You with me?", Steve asked the shivering bundle in his arms.

"Cold."

"Ssshhh. I know. But no sleeping, alright?", Steve pulled him closer and planted a kiss on his forehead.

"Cap, which direction should we head to?", Nat asked with a glance towards Tony that betrayed nothing.

"I don't know. But we have to find warmth. Tony's not gonna last like this", Steve answered, feeling helpless when Tony gave another violent shudder, whimpering.

Bruce was muttering the symptoms and treatments of moderate and extreme hypothermia under his breath, while simultaneously checking Tony's pulse and temperature.

"Captain, I think we should head that way. If I am not mistaken there is something resembling a house over there", Thor's voice cut in, the God of Thunder was pointing towards a dark shape, which would have been invisible to all but a pair of super spies, a God, an enhanced soldier and a half green monster. And Iron Man, if he had been aware enough.

Hoisting Tony closer to his body's warmth, Steve nodded, getting up and following Thor. His own wrist seemed to have healed, what with super serum running in his veins. Natasha, Clint and Bruce had already latched onto the God's arms, since the storm, which although was showing signs of letting up, was still strong enough to slow them down considerably.

The house was their only hope. Tony's only hope.

And they had to get there. Fast.

* * *

 _So ... second chapter, guys. Not really happy with it. But my muse is flickering on and off. But the next chapter will make up for it. More fluff, team cuddles ... oops, spoiler alert!_

 _Anyway, hope that was readable. Thank you so, so much for the reads, reviews, favs and follows. You people keep me writing._

 _Opinions, ideas, suggestions and that kind of thing are always welcome._

 _Ta,_

 _Laila._


	3. The shelter

_Sorry for the_ delay, _folks. Bit busy. But I'll try to update at least once a week ... if I get a good response ; )_

 _Thank you to all those fantastic people who read, reviewed, faved and followed my story._

 _Give me more reviews, you awesome people, and I'll give you more chapters soon._

 _Hope you enjoy ..._

* * *

The house turned out to be an old wooden cabin. It had one room with no furniture and a dusty fireplace.

But it kept them sheltered from the cold.

The wind had nearly died away completely, when the six of them entered into the cabin. Quickly they shut the door and Nat hurried to light the logs stacked in the fireplace with a lighter she procured from God knows where.

Thor spread his cape down in front of the now roaring fire (Ah, the skills of a super spy) and Steve gently lay Tony down on it.

Tony's eyes fluttered and he shivered harder as he was removed from his heat source. He whimpered silently.

Ignoring Tony's protest, Steve stripped him out of the wet clothes and covered him with Thor's cape. Cradling the nearly unconscious genius, he moved closer to the fire. But still Tony did not cease his shivers.

As if on some unspoken agreement the others moved towards them. Thor leaned against Steve's back and Bruce and Clint framed him on either side. Nat curled close, in front of Steve.

All had contact with Tony in some way.

By now Tony had drifted off towards an uneasy sleep. Color was slowly coming back to his face and his lips weren't as blue as before.

One by one the others followed Tony and nodded off.

* * *

Steve woke with a start. Berating himself for falling asleep, he looked around, trying to find what woke him.

A whimper.

He looked down at Tony. Tony's brows were furrowed and though he had stopped shivering, he tossed and turned slightly in Steve's lap. A moan tore itself from his throat, followed by a gasp.

Steve knew what was happening. Tony was dreaming about New York and the wormhole again.

It had been more than two months since the alien invasion and all the Avengers had been affected physically and mentally. Each of them had had their share of nightmares and with time they had recovered to some extent if not fully. But not Tony. Tony had suffered from nightmares, panic attacks, anxiety attacks and had had two PTSD episodes.

Initially Tony had been reluctant to share his flight to outer space. But the team's gentle and occasional pushes had broken the walls he had built around himself. He had not told them in detail, of course. But he had shared the less painful parts. If what he shared had been the least painful, Steve had thought, God knew what the most painful would feel like.

Cold, had been Tony's first word to describe the experience. Cold and dead. Nothing was there. Couldn't breathe, he had said, voice trembling as he sat as close to Steve as possible. Couldn't breathe, couldn't feel. Nothing. Just the nothing and the cold.

That had been three weeks before.

Now Steve knew that the cold had yet again triggered Tony's nightmares.

He gathered him closer and gently stroked his hair, whispering soothingly as he rocked back and forth. It had always worked, though sometimes Tony took a lot longer before he came out of it. But this time it didn't.

* * *

 _Cold. Always the cold._

 _And the nothing._

 _He couldn't feel, couldn't think ._

 _Couldn't feel anything, but the cold._

 _Up he went. Into space. Jarvis was speaking but he couldn't hear and couldn't respond._

 _Stars. Sky. Explosion._

 _Jarvis. Avengers. Steve._

 _Then the nothing. He wasn't alive. He wasn't dead. Floating._

 _So afraid. So scared._

 _Couldn't breathe._

 _Falling. Death._

 _Pepper, Rhodey, Dum E ... dead._

 _Coulson, Fury, Hill ... dead._

 _Bruce, Clint, Nat, Thor, Steve ... dead._

 _He saw them. Saw their dead eyes staring at him. Accusing and filled with pain._

 _His fault._

 _He hadn't made it with the nuke. The city had exploded. Because of him._

 _Voices whispered around him._

 _"You could have saved us, Stark."_

 _" ... merchant of death."_

 _" ... the greatest mass murderer."_

 _" ... because of you, Tony."_

 _"... Stark."_

 _"... Tony."_

 **"Tony!"**

Tony woke screaming.

* * *

Tony had progressed from whimpers to full blown moans of absolute agony. The team had quickly woken during Steve's attempts at calming him down.

"No ... sorry ... didn't... please...Steve ...sor... ", Tony mumbled a stream of incoherent words.

"Tony. I'm here. Wake up, love. It's just a dream", Steve had whispered into Tony's ear.

"Stark. Hey, wake up", Natasha had said in a firm voice.

And still Tony twisted within the throes of the nightmare.

Then he screamed. A scream filed with pain and grief and guilt. A scream which chilled the spines of the hardened heroes. And a scream which should never ever have crossed the mouth of one Tony Stark.

"Tony!", shouted all of them in alarm.

Tony Stark woke up screaming.

"Hey, look at me. You're alright. I'm here. We're here. It's ... you're safe..."

Steve soothed Tony who was heaving in shallow breaths in between his sobs. His eyes searched frantically for each member of the team.

The team huddled closer to the pair. To reassure their friend. To let him know that they were there.

Eventually Tony stopped shaking and crying and found the strength to open his eyes again.

Chocolate brown eyes met sky blue. Then green, black, emerald and finally dark brown.

Reassured, they closed.

The team exchanged looks of relief and looked down only to find the exhausted genius had drifted back to sleep. This wasn't unusual and so the team wasn't alarmed. Most times the flashbacks drained Tony and he would collapse onto the nearest thing that would hold him and become dead to the world. Usually the thing nearest him would vary between Steve's chest, the couch in his lab and on rare occasions, their bed.

Bruce checked his breathing and pulse. Once he had finished, he nodded reassuringly to the concerned glances around him.

"He alright, Bruce?", Clint asked, his voice indifferent but his eyes speaking just how much he cared for his friend.

"Yeah. Raised heartbeat. But that's to be expected", Bruce said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Perhaps, the Iron Man's path to recovery has been laid", Thor said, smiling.

"And what about his ribs and concussion? His ankle's not too bad, I think.", Natasha asked, eyebrows raised.

They all stared at her. They had completely forgotten about Tony's injuries. But Natasha had, as always, been observant. Out of all six of them, only Tony and Steve had gotten injured. Steve's wrist injury was all but gone. Tony on the other hand ...

"His ribs will be painful for a few weeks, but it hasn't damaged his lungs or anything. I don't know how he has not voiced his pain before now. Probably too cold to notice and probably 'cause he's Tony Stark. His concussion must be less severe than we thought as he remembered us all. At least it seemed so. And as Nat said, the ankle's better. The cold again", Bruce said, gently running his hand over Tony's torso.

Steve nodded at the doctor and looked at Tony sleeping in his arms. His expression softened as it always did in the presence of the genius and a gentle smile graced his features. But his eyes still sparkled with concern.

"Oh, the things you get into, Tony", he whispered, smoothing back the hair from the relaxed face.

The rest of the team exchanged knowing glances.


End file.
